INEOS Celebrates its 20th anniversary with €200 million European investment in its Oxide business

INEOS today celebrates its 20th anniversary at its first site in Antwerp. As it marks the occasion, INEOS Oxide has announced investment of €200 million into its business, with €150m of this to be spent directly at its Zwijndrecht site, in Antwerp, where its incredible story of success began in 1998.

This latest round of investment demonstrates INEOS Oxide’s commitment to its European business. Projects will grow Ethylene Oxide storage and distribution, debottleneck its plants and increase the production of Ethylene Oxide derivatives for the European Market. A sixth alkoxylation unit in Antwerp is due to start up at the end of 2018, along with a 2,000 tonne expansion of ethylene oxide (EO) storage capacity at the site. The company is also upgrading EO production at Lavéra, France to support the growing EO needs in Europe. This phase of investment will improve reliability, efficiency and availability of its business in Antwerp, Belgium as well as sites in Köln, Germany and Lavéra, France.

We are also pleased to announce that agreement has been reached with RWE to buy the Inesco Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Plant on the INEOS Zwijndrecht site in Antwerp. This acquisition will ensure the continued, reliable supply of steam, as a critical feedstock, to the INEOS plants on the site as well as our 3^rd party co-siting partners. The transaction is expected to close before the end of the year, subject to approvals from the relevant regulatory authorities.

Philippe Muyters, Flemish Minister for Work, Innovation and Sport said,“Adding value. That is what INEOS and, by extension, the chemical industry does. INEOS not only is one of the largest petrochemical companies in the world, its products make a significant contribution to improve lives all over the world. This is not a coincidence: the company truly realises that innovation, collaboration and talented staff are the building blocks of success. Congratulations with your 20^th anniversary, I am looking forward to the next 20 years of excellence.”       

Graham Beesley, CEO of INEOS Oxide said: “We are marking INEOS’ incredible global success at the place where it all began twenty years ago. To highlight our ongoing commitment to Ethylene Oxide, the first business to be bought by INEOS, we are announcing European investment of €200 million, with €150 million to be spent here at the Zwijndrecht site in Antwerp. 

“From its beginnings in Antwerp in 1998 INEOS is today the second largest employer in the Belgium chemicals sector and one of the world’s top 50 companies. INEOS began its life as a company centred around the Ethylene Oxide molecule. It is fitting that we are continuing to invest in its production, storage, distribution and derivatives.”

To highlight our 20^th Anniversary as a part of the Zwijndrecht community, INEOS will also contribute €20,000 tore-equip technical classrooms and labs at the Saint-Carolus secondary technical school in Sint-Niklaas, which is close to the site.  The school offers both a "classic education plan” and a "dual learning plan" in which 50% of the time is spent in practical education in a chemical plant. It specialises in chemical process techniques and is highly successful in equipping its students with the skills necessary to provide operators and technician staff to the INEOS site. 

ENDS

Contacts

Richard Longden (INEOS)                            0041 21 627 7063 or 0041 7996 26123
Andrew McLachlan (Media Zoo)                   020 7384 6980 or 07931377162
Chris Hall (Media Zoo)                                020 7384 6980 or 07739571634

NOTES to editors

Other INEOS Oxide projects previously announced include expansions of propylene oxide (PO) and dipropylene glycol (DPG) in Köln Germany as well as significant investment in coming years in ethylidene norbornene (ENB) capacity. A major debottleneck will be on stream in Antwerp in 2019 followed by a proposed second world-scale ENB and C5 feedstock plant at a new location to be decided. 

The products made by INEOS Oxide are used widely in household goods such as cosmetics, shampoos and toothpaste; construction materials, coatings, paints and inks. It also provides the building blocks of polymers such as PET and antifreeze used extensively within aircraft and automotive industries.

The Ethylene Oxide business at the Zwijndrecht site in Antwerp was the first to be acquired by INEOS. The company has grown from this single site, originally employing 400 people with a turnover of €200m. Today, INEOS is one of the world’s largest chemicals companies and the 50^th largest business in the world, employing around 20,000 people across 171 sites in 24 countries, with sales in 2017 $60bn and EBITDA of €7bn.  In addition to its growth in petrochemicals, it has acquired oil & gas fields in the UK, Denmark and Norway and is a top 10 company and the biggest private enterprise operating in the North Sea. Additionally, it has Joint Ventures with PetroChina, Total and Carlyle Private Equity.

INEOS has entered its third decade of business in a stronger position than ever before. No stranger to making bold decisions, the company has recently announced the largest investment in its history. In July the company approved another major investment, announcing a €2.7 billion capital project to build both a world scale ethane cracker and a PDH (Propane Dehydrogenation) unit somewhere, yet to be announced, in Northern Europe. The investment, which will be the largest in the European chemicals industry in 20 years, will create 500 jobs in operation and thousands in construction. These world-class assets will increase INEOS’s self-sufficiency in all key olefin products and support the growth of our derivatives and polymer businesses in Europe.  All our assets will benefit from our ability to import competitive raw materials from the US and the rest of the world, none more so than the Ethylene Oxide business at the Zwijndrecht site here in Antwerp.